Broken Arrow
by keep.the.hope
Summary: Azalea Hawthorne has never questioned why she doesn't leave District Two. She never questioned why her father always seemed far off. But when the opportunity to travel to District Twelve arises, Azzy is thrilled to accept. Well, that was before she knew about the boy with the broken arrow.
1. Heroes

_And you're sitting beside the willow,_

_You're one of a kind,_

_Waiting by my window,_

_Giving me all your time,_

_You could be my hero,_

_If only I could let go,_

_But these rules stick with me,_

_Like a **broken arrow**._


	2. Listen To Your Heart

**LISTEN TO YOUR HEART**

**AZALEA**

_"You've built a love but that love falls apart. Your little piece of heaven turns too dark."_

* * *

><p>My father never told me why he loved me more than my other siblings. My older brother, Forest, and his twin, Venus, were infinitely more worthy of his love and care. They both had dark hair, but Forest had eyes like mine and Venus's were just like Dad's. I looked just like my mother, Alexandrite, in every way possible. Her lovely blond hair came from both her parents, coming from District One. Still, people were envious of the beautiful Hawthorne family. Some said our parents were too attractive, thus producing such perfectly sculpted children. These words didn't sit well with my father.<p>

Gale Hawthorne was a quiet man, and perhaps that's why most people feared him. He was large and always had a hard look on his face, but I loved him all the same. Whenever he was with me, his lips broke apart into the most glorious grin imaginable. I was the biggest 'daddy's girl' you could think of. He spoiled me, and at times I think it annoyed Forest that being the oldest meant nothing. On my sixth birthday, he took me to a man whose dog had just given birth to nine puppies two months before. I squealed with such delight as the man put the small yapping creature in my arms. Every kid's dream is to have a pet. That, and to meet the country's hero. At six, I didn't know _why _she was a hero, just that she was, and Father didn't seem to like her very much. I had seen pictures, and I thought she was beautiful. I wondered if he hated her because he couldn't have her. She appeared on TV often, although she looked younger in everything they showed. Mom told me they were reruns and to stop watching them before Dad got home.

That was another thing about my father. He seemed almost consumed with his work. He traveled almost all the time. It upset me that I'd never gotten to go with him. Forest and Venus had been to the Capitol, District One, _and_ District Four. Strangely enough, none of us had ever been to District Twelve, except Dad, despite us having multiple family members there. Grandmother always made the trip to District Two, even in her older age. I didn't think she should've had to travel all that way, but then again, I was always looking for an excuse to go somewhere, simply because I'd never been anywhere. In my fifteen years of living, I'd only seen mountain ranges and towering buildings. Well, that was before yesterday. And now, this is where my tale of twisted fate begins. Oh, the irony.

* * *

><p>My eyes flutter as the train reels into the next district. I lost track after we passed District Six several hours ago. I don't know how Dad can stand being on a train all the time. Acacia Bennet shakes me slightly, possibly hoping I'll come around to face reality. Lately, reality has been too good that I'm convinced I'm in an endless dream. Somehow, Dad agreed to let me go on a class trip to District Twelve. I reasoned that this trip would be <em>educational<em> and a _healthy change in environment_. When I first asked him, Dad didn't budge. After Mom backed me up by pointing out I've never been out of the district, however, he sighed with a wave the hand and told me that he trusted me. I just neglected to mention this trip lasts three days.

"Azzy! We just passed District Eleven! We'll be in Twelve by morning!" Acacia's voice makes my eyes pop open to reveal dim lighting. It's dark out, meaning I've been on this train for roughly ten hours. Our train left at seven o'clock this morning, and honestly, I'm getting too stiff from not moving around.

"What time is it, Acacia?" I groan. She's wide awake. I don't know how she could possibly have stayed awake this whole ride. I'm ready to fall back to sleep, aside from my growing hunger that's the only thing that's stopping me.

"Eight o'clock," she says brightly. "Rather, ten o'clock if we're following the time of the Eastern Districts. Twelve and Thirteen are the latest at the moment." I let out an exaggerated sigh. You would think that after wanting this so long I'd be happy. Well, I _would_ be happy, if this trip wasn't so dang _long_.

"So _why_ did you wake me up?" I snap moodily. Acacia scoots away from me with a hurt look on her face.

"Chill, Azalea. It's not like a little lost sleep is going to kill you. You're overreacting. I thought you're the one who wanted to come on this trip?" Ace crosses her arms over her chest.

"I _do_ want to be here," I sigh. "I've just never had to adjust to a new timezone before." I look down in embarrassment as I yet again remind my best friend I've never left District Two before. Ace puts a hand on my shoulder.

"We'll be there before you know it," she promises. "How about a snack to take your mind off things?" A grin stretches across the hazel eyed girl next to me. A smile of my own appears on my face.

"Sure. Why not? It's not like anything else could ruin my mood."

* * *

><p>I was wrong. I was so, so wrong. The boys in front of us snore like pigs. Ace whines about it until an attendant comes over to us.<p>

"Is there a problem?" She wears a false smile, but I don't judge her one bit. I'm sure she's heard every noise known to man on this train.

"Yes!" Acacia throws her hands in the air. "I don't know which network belongs to this train because new ones pop up every three seconds!" She's been trying to log into a wireless internet network for the last half hour. Unfortunately, her laptop is so advanced that it picks up networks and disposes of them immediately.

I chuckle at her frustration, which makes her glare at me.

"It's not funny, Azalea Hawthorne!" she snaps. I only laugh harder.

The attendant looks over at me. "Hawthorne? As in _Gale_ Hawthorne?" She blinks in awe at me, but I have no idea why anyone would know my father.

"Yeah . . ." I trail off slowly. The attendant gasps. I furrow my eyebrows. She first turns back to Ace.

"It should be _'PanemExpressTrans1'_ with no code blocking it." Her eyes are then focused on me. "How are you related? You look nothing like the war hero."

"_War hero_?" I splutter. She nods. I shake my head in disbelief. "I'm Gale Hawthorne's daughter. I'm on a school trip with a few others to District Twelve. We'll be studying some of the history there. I wanted to visit my aunts and uncles. It's been awhile," I mumble. The woman only stares in fascination.

"You're quite a contrast to you father, aren't you?" she says, mostly to herself. "You're mother, she's Alexandrite Lawson?" I tilt my head to the side.

"How do you know so much about my family?" I question. She lets out a hearty laugh, pretty stick that she is.

"Your father is on this train all the time. Plus, all you have to do is turn on the television and there they are, Gale with his government news and Alexandrite always appearing on talk shows about her filmography. They're quite the legendary couple. Almost the greatest, actually." She leans casually on the back of the seats of the snoring boys.

Almost? From everything she's said, they seem to be the favorite couple everyone talks about. "Why almost?" I blurt out. She doesn't at all look surprised.

"Because everyone still squeals when they hear about their '_star-crossed lovers_' every once in awhile. They go to District Four the most. I've watched them go and come from this train. They're very quiet people. Always look so uncomfortable when people stare. Most times they just get a room so their family can have privacy. I don't blame them. One time this guy came up to their daughter and she ran away crying right back to her mommy. They never chanced it with their son. They've gotten a room the past seventeen years. I'd hate to have to shut myself out from society." This woman sure knows a lot about all these celebrities. She smiles at me before walking back to the head of the car. "I'll be here the next time you board the train," she calls out. I decide I like her.

"Did you hear all that, Ace?" I say excitedly. She's running some kind of program on her laptop.

"Huh?" She turns to face me. "I'm sorry, Azzy, I'm more focused on finishing the installment of my own software program. You'll be the first to try it out, I promise." She smiles sympathetically. I hug her.

"It's okay, Ace. We're that much closer to getting off this insufferable train."

* * *

><p>Whatever I expected of District Twelve, it wasn't this. There are trees every time I turn my head.<p>

Ace's hand grips mine for dear life. "I'm never following you to some obscure district ever again!" she hisses. I swat her arm playfully.

"Oh, hush! It's not that bad. I haven't seen my family in forever!" I say, guilting her into not regretting her decision.

"But . . . but it's so _small_!" she complains. I sigh.

"Can you please cooperate? For me? This was the only district traveling trip left until next spring!"

"Next time I want to go to District Four," she grumbles. I roll my eyes.

"You're just arguing for the sake of arguing," I tell her, annoyed.

"Fine. You're right. Now let's get out of this heat and find the hotel. I'm dying out here."

* * *

><p><strong> AN Welcome to Broken Arrow. Prepare to be thoroughly confused because I have no idea where I'm going with this. This will be in the points of view of Azalea and Rye (Katniss and Peeta's son) and that's really all I'm sure of. Please tell me if you think I'm portraying Collins's characters wrong so that I can work on making it better. I think I did a pretty okay job with Gale where he was briefly mentioned here and there. I have no ownership to any of Collins's characters, but I own original characters (such as Azzy and Ace). Happy reading!**


	3. Carry On

**CARRY ON**

**RYE**

_"Though I've never been through hell like that I've closed enough windows to know you can never look back."_

* * *

><p>Alright<em>,<em> I'll start off by telling you that I usually don't skip school. I wouldn't normally follow a girl to the outskirts of the district simply because she told me to. The biggest female influences I've had are my mother and sister, neither of whom are very pleasant to be around if you piss them off. My sister is a little better than Mom, with only a slight temper compared to Mom's fiery one. I love my mom, I do, more than anything. But you know what I don't love? Getting guilt tripped by my dad into telling Mom that I skipped. I knew I should've listened to Willow when she told me she didn't like Daphne. But Daphne looked at me with her big blue eyes and convinced me that we were never going to get another chance to be alone like this. Her muted red hair drew me close and pulled me down until I was drowning in delirious happiness.

That happiness has been squashed by my oh-so-loving parents. There's only so much you can get away with at sixteen.

"What right do you have disregarding everything you've ever been taught?" Mom isn't letting me down easy this time. I slump into couch, pouting. Usually if I gave her this face it would soften the blow. "Don't even think about it!" she snaps. So. There goes the one thing I had going for me.

"But Mom," I start. She points a finger at me.

"But nothing! Have your father and I not shown you how much we care about your safety?" There. She didn't say love. She said care. Dad always tells me how much he loves Willow and I. Then again, Dad loves pretty much everyone, so I guess I shouldn't base Mom's choices of parenting off of Dad's superhuman heart. "You could've been injured out there!" The place. The woods. A place I knew even before I was born. It pulsed in my veins with a vengeance. I know Mom is just afraid of loss, because of the ways she lost her father, sister, and countless friends.

I stand up, barely realizing I'm another three inches taller than my mother. "Mom, hey, it's okay. I know what I'm doing out there. You don't have to worry about me, okay?" I wrap my arms around her skinny frame, feeling her trembling body become still.

"Yes, I do," she whispers, responding to my hug. "I'm your mother. It's what I'm supposed to do." She sighs into my shoulder. "I trust you, Rye. I know you won't get yourself hurt for the sake of rebellion. Just don't skip school. I don't appreciate running into you and your father while you should be in school." She pulls away, the tiniest of smiles present within her face of mixed emotions. "I need you to drop something off at the Hawthornes. Think of it as your way of making up for following a foolish girl into the woods." She grins a large grin, knowing she insulted my intelligence and knowledge of girls.

"Hey!" I whine. "Daphne isn't stupid. She has a rather high IQ. In fact it's higher than mine." I rub the back of my neck as I feel it heat up. "Why do you think I followed a girl into the woods? Normally I'd be doing the leading, but I trust her instinct." I cross my arms indignantly. Mom snorts.

"I don't care if she was the president. I'm your mother who could care less about your love life." I glare. She sighs. "God only knows I dealt with enough when I was young and awfully confused. Bother your dad with it later." She smiles again, giving me a farewell hug. "I'm sure he'll love to hear about this girl. You'll find that he can relate to you more than you think." Mom pushes me in the direction of the kitchen, reminding me of my task. "I love you." She kisses my cheek, leaving me with a bag with some type of meat.

I peer into the bag, guessing it's a combination of rabbit and deer, and swing it over my shoulder. I guess I should be used to making Mom's deliveries, but I'm always uneasy stepping into unknown territory. It's just the way I was raised. Mom and Dad have made me wary of my surroundings, even harmless places like school. I suppose it's their paranoia that pushes these thoughts to the fronts of their minds. Despite their more often than not smiling faces, I know they hurt. And a lot of the time, I am able to pretend that my family is normal. But what is _normal_ when you've never really been?

* * *

><p>Mrs. Hawthorne lives close to the middle of Twelve. Her youngest child, Posy, moved out more than five years ago, but I always see her and her three children along with their families. When they were all there, Mrs. Hawthorne and her daughter usually welcomed me inside. I always declined, because I hoped my sister would come over for dinner. Ever since she moved in with her boyfriend, after a lot of arguing with Dad, I don't see her as often. And a hard realization hit me soon after: I miss my sister. Willow and I never got along, unless we were teaming up for something deceptive, which ultimately led to a harsh punishment, but I love her. She still protected me in her own weird way of showing it.<p>

The gravel that covers the streets has been there since before I was born. Apparently when they were reconstructing District Twelve after the war, there was so much coal dust from the bombings that it was just easier to fill the space with gravel rather than wash out all the dust, which would've taken years.

I love coming into town. I like that I'm the center of attention, but I like more that I can see the Meadow as I round the corner to the Hawthornes' house. The sun burns brightly in the mid afternoon haze. This is my favorite time of day. I would have gotten out of school just twenty minutes ago had I not skipped today. I usually sit in the swaddling grass in the Meadow before heading home. I normally have steam to blow off, and sometimes it's easier to be alone.

I release a breath, knocking on the door of the Hawthorne residence. I prepare a mental speech to give Mrs. Hawthorne on why I'm so early and why it's me delivering instead of my mom. But I don't get the chance, because the person who answers the door is not Mrs. Hawthorne. In fact, I have no _idea_ who the girl is.

The first thing I notice about her are her big brown eyes. They're bright and cheerful, much unlike my gray ones. She smiles, and God her pretty little face lights up like a kid's on Christmas morning. And the only thing I manage to say:

"Uh, is Mrs. Hawthorne home?" My neck reddens, and I pray she thinks it's from the heat. Her smile changes to a smirk at my lack of words.

"Yeah, I'll go get her." She bites her lower lip. "You can come in. I don't bite." The girl chuckles at my awkward state. As she turns around, her light blond hair flares out behind her, resting a little below her shoulder blades.

I follow her, dumbly, into the plain house. I don't know if I should expect to find Mrs. Hawthorne tied up in a closet or if she's just up to her usual tasks. I hesitate in the doorway as the girl calls out, "Grandma!" and I'm able to assume that she is safe and not dangerous. Although I don't know how I could think someone so frail is capable of something like that . . .

"So," the girl says, snapping me out of my daze, "who are you and why do you need my grandmother?" She draws her arms together defensively. I roll my eyes at her new attitude.

"Meat," I say, dropping the sack on the counter. "And I'm Rye." Her lips, pink roses that they are, form a perfect smile, and I know she's going to make a snarky comment about my name.

"Like a _wry_ grin?" she says slyly. I glare, but it doesn't last with those eyes sparkling up at me.

"_No_," I draw out, "like the bread. I can't help being the son of a baker." I shrug.

"Alright, well, it's nice to meet you, Rye," she says, offering her hand. "I'm Azalea, but everyone calls me Azzy." I take her hand, pondering on a thought that won't leave me alone.

"Can I call you _Lea_? _Azzy_ isn't really working for me." I smirk at her sudden surprise.

"Yeah, s-sure," she stutters.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Azalea. Just tell Mrs. Hawthorne that dinner's on the counter." I release her hand, walking out the door that was left open.

Once I'm outside, I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding in. The door closes behind me, and I race home as fast as I can, not once forgetting a feature of that gorgeous girl's face.

* * *

><p>"Dad!" I exclaim when I enter my house. I find him in the kitchen, which isn't unusual. He looks up when I walk in, but he goes back to preparing dinner when I say nothing further. "Dad," I sigh as I lean on the counter.<p>

"Rye, if your mother punished you for skipping school, I'm not going to try to sway her to change her mind." Oh, Dad. He knows the relationship between Mom and I so well.

"No," I say, "I'm not punished." I sigh, blond hair and rosy lips coming to mind. "But if there's such thing as love at first sight, I think I'm in love." Dad puts down what he's working on to pay attention to me.

"Oh, believe me, there's love at first sight," he chuckles. I roll my eyes.

"Can we not joke about this, Dad? I'm taking this very seriously. I've never been in love! How am I supposed to act? What am I supposed to say?" My mind runs hundreds of scenarios through my head, but I can't quite focus on one.

"Relax, Rye. The first thing you should do is list the things you like about her."

"Everything," I breathe out happily. "She's sarcastic, quirky, and _totally_ gorgeous." Dad smiles at my obvious admiration toward this girl.

"Then if you like her that much, just be yourself and let what happens happen. You don't want to force a relationship to form between you two. Really, I think you'll be just fine." Dad pats me on the shoulder.

"Thanks, Dad," I sigh gratefully.

"No problem. So." He gives me a sly grin. "What's her name?"

"Azalea." I smile, remembering her lilting voice every time she spoke to me. "She's perfect, Dad, I swear. I've never met anyone like her."

"I thought her name was Daphne?" Mom walks into the kitchen, a teasing smile on her lips.

"Come on, Mom. Anyone who gets me to skip school isn't right for me." She only laughs. It's obvious we have the same sense of humor. And whenever Mom laughs, Dad smiles. So I'm not surprised when an ear splitting grin stretches across his face. All we need is Willow and this would be another Mellark family moment.

"Where did you meet this _Azalea_ girl?" I know she's just trying to make conversation, but everything about Lea makes me feel warm.

"I was dropping off the game at Mrs. Hawthorne's house. Azalea is her granddaughter." My words make Mom go cold. She turns to face me slowly.

"But . . . you've met all her grandchildren." She fiddles with the tip of her braid.

"I'm not so sure about that," I say, walking toward the doorway of the kitchen. "She kind of has the same bone structure as Posy."

As I leave the kitchen, I hear Mom's voice say, "Do you think she's _Gale's_ daughter?"

"He's been married for awhile, Katniss. I'd be more surprised if he had no children," Dad sighs.

I try to understand what they're talking about, but I decide I don't care. All that matters are chocolate brown eyes and fleeting glances.

* * *

><p><strong>AN Your introduction to Rye has arrived :D My chapters won't be that long (probably 3000 words at the most) because I need to go back and forth between Azalea and Rye often. But you know what's nice? Reviews! ;) Peeta will make you a muffin if you do xo What did you think of my take on the whole Melkark family? Updates won't come as frequent as the previous two had, but they will usually come back to back with Azalea and Rye. Well now I'm done rambling. Hope you enjoyed! **

**-Marley**


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